I have an older (28) draft cross gelding who has a sad little poof of hair for his forelock. It’s like a foal’s forelock actually - very fine, soft hairs that make a little tuft of hair. Poor guy has a comb over - I don’t give him a bridle path anymore and let the first few inches of his mane grow out and sweep that forward to make a forelock. :o
Is there any remedy for this? Like roaching the baby hairs or selectively pulling some of the fine hair to see if it will grow back thicker? Hoping someone has had a similar situation and some suggestions.
Tail is as thick as ever (though it does have a bit of gray now) and his mane isn’t thinning and is healthy (also a bit of gray there too). Just the forelock seems to have regressed.
I have one like this. And I’ve known many like this. Great mane & tail, forelock either 6 wispy strands, or a frizzy little puff of hair.
You can trick yourself into thinking you’re helping by applying MTG sparingly. But frankly, it’s not worth the worry of it sliding down into his eyes. Or clip it entirely off repeatedly and hope it grows back thicker. But why?
If he’s 28 and your biggest worry is the texture and length of his forelock, then he’s doing great.
My TB mare was like this. I called it a troll tuft because it reminded me of the shocks of hair that troll dolls from the 90s had (jeez I’m old).
It never got any longer in the 14 years I owned her. It did gradually get a little thicker, which made for a more dramatic troll tuft, but that was it.
I think some horses are just like this, and no amount of any intervention is going to change it.
If he had a normal forelock at one point, looking at the diet might be interesting–confirm his vitamins and minerals are all in range, maybe up his biotin and omega 3s? But if the rest of his hair is normal, it seems unlikely that a deficiency would just show up in that one little place. It wouldn’t hurt anything, though, to put him on flax and a biotin supplement (except your wallet, but those things usually aren’t costly.)
I’ve had a SSH for 10+ years and he has a fabulous, thick, long tail, a decent mane, and the puniest little baby foal forelock. In fact, when you handle his mane, it is much coarser the further away you get from his poll. While it seems all horses have some ‘refining’ of the mane hair as you approach their poll, this guy’s hair is almost like human hair for a good 8 inches or so down his crest from his ears. It just is what it is.
I wouldn’t saw worried exactly. COTHers are so good with hacks for a variety of things, as I was grooming him yesterday, It just occurred to me that asking the great COTH knowlegebase might gleam some ideas.
Smirf troll hair! :lol: Yes, that’s it!
He once had a very normal forelock - thick and lovely. I became very sick after I bought him, and long story short, someone took it upon themselves to pull his mane/forelock within an inch of it’s life during a two month stint when I couldn’t get to the barn. The mane sort-of recovered (though it was never as thick), but the forelock struggled from that point forward. Its just so pronounced now because the hairs are so tiny, soft and just won’t grow. I’m wondering if that mane pulling damaged the follicles or something that as he’s aged, it just gotten worse and worse.
I agree. I’ve ridden horses that had manes/forelocks like that. My Morgan was one… really fine, soft hair at the poll, slowing getting coarser down the crest and then fine, thin hair near the withers. His tail was average.
My guy has such a large head (he’s a TB/Clyde cross, 17.2 and BIG) that I think it’s just more noticeable that the forelock is essentially missing. I just didn’t know if there wasn’t some sort of magic Rogaine for horses. LOL
Looks like I will continue with the “comb over” method.
Yeah I think that’s just how some of them are. My mare has nice straight long hair in her mane and tail, super shiny healthy horse, and then a fairly nothing forelock.
I dunno… the “helpful” person was never identified. And I got some push-back when I literally bust into tears and said his mane/forelock as ruined when I saw it. Evidently, I was supposed to be grateful, pleased and thankful! Instead, I was labeled as ungrateful and a whiner. Go figure.
I don’t know - I have never pulled my gelding’s forelock and his has changed over the years. Was normal, then got skinny/thin, now it’s a poof of fuzz! I like to form it into interesting shapes and laugh at him :yes: Nothing much has changed with him, except he is older (22 now). It is seriously like troll doll hair - that’s a great analogy! I guess his mane is way thicker now, too, but that’s because I don’t pull it much anymore (he doesn’t like it). I let my friend who rides him now cut it (yes, I know. I teared up a bit the first time I saw what she did) but it really doesn’t matter now, just adds to his special look
Wow, that takes nerve to pull the forelock of a horse that is not yours :eek:
My Belgian gelding’s forelock and tail have gotten thinner through the years and his feathers are almost non-existent now. I’ve always left him natural. Although I do admit to cutting his mane short in the summer time because it’s so thick he sweats.
My mare has a forelock (slightly more than troll hair amounts), but I have noticed it does not grow like the rest of her mane.
I had someone pull her mane and they did her forelock too (never thought I had to say 'don’t pull her forelock when they leave their own horse’s forelock long), to the same short length as the rest of the mane.
Several years later the mane has gotten crazy long and been pulled again several times. The forelock is still short and not even close to what it was before it was pulled.
Clearly the forelock has a mind of its own and does not go along with the mane or tail.
It makes sense that the excessive pulling combined with my horses advanced age are probably both contributing to what I’m fondly going to refer to from now on as “Troll Forelock”. Thankfully, I doubt it bothers him at all.
Maybe since there are others with the same issue on their horses, somebody should come up with horse colored Forelock Extensions! :winkgrin: After all, their are fake tails and tale extensions!
4LeafCloverFarm, I would totally buy a forelock extension! Actually, you could prob sell 2 or 3 at my barn (my horse and another boarder’s horse probably wouldn’t make a whole forelock between them.) I am totally telling my trainer about the “troll forelock” description: it’s perfect for my horse!
When I was in high school, I worked at a pony hunter show/breeding farm and we pulled our ponies’ forelocks regularly. You had to, most of them were too thick to braid if you didn’t. I made the mistake of going home and pulling my TB’s forelock. It also never fully recovered. He went from having a normal forelock to a wispy tuft of hair.
Ever since then, I think I’ve been cursed with forelocks. No one has a good one; even those who came with good forelocks lost them (like the mare who had to have a hunk of hers clipped off when she needed her head sutured). Right now, my donkey has the best forelock on the farm! Donkeys aren’t even supposed to have forelocks!
Clearly, I live under a rock on my farm. I had no idea they “were a thing”. My, how times change as those of us that have been riding since the 60’s/70’s get older! LOL Sometimes it boggles my mind…
My horse has lately been sporting a “onelock”, sometimes a “twolock”. Hasn’t been a forelock in years. Right now it’s a fuzzy thick poof but will gradually become a few thin strands in the summer. He is 34 yrs. old but many years ago had a decent one. Several years of pasture board in a field with burr bushes (he’d come to me looking like a unicorn) seems to have damaged the hair.
One winter when I lopped off a long chunk of tail, I stuck it under his crownpiece to see how he’d look with the extra hair. The years just melted away.
Evidently, I was supposed to be grateful, pleased and thankful! Instead, I was labeled as ungrateful and a whiner. Go figure.
